May 23rd (2020)

 

May 23rd
69 days
I am awake at 6am

I begin working here, in the upstairs front room where the air conditioning no longer conditions the air, on the Mac midi, at 7am.

"It's life Jim, but not as we know it." ( ‘Star Trekkin’’,  The Firm, 1987).

My quinquagenarian daughter has WhatsApped again and showed me images of her family and beautiful home in England. She has done very well for herself, despite various medical issues. Obviously the pandemic has affected her family as much as everyone else. Work for them all has altered, but they are managing, as are we all.

It is 8.52am and I am ready for breakfast, but I shall have to go out as there is nothing here for breakfast. I also need to buy some provisions for lunch and dinner. The question is will it be 'Eggs Benedict', at Common Grounds or to ‘Build my own breakfast’ and have three eggs, bacon etc there. Ah! Decisions, decisions. Life flits from Heideggerian augenblick to Heideggerian augenblick, capturing moments (not in a jar as Traffic seemed to think…..’Heaven is in you mind’ 1967) but in my mind.

Speaking of the 60s, as I walk down Hap Guan Street, past a middle-aged white gentlemen with a greying ponytail, there is the very familiar scent of those heady days wafting in the air, and I do not mean patchouli. I laugh. I mean out loud. My appreciation of all things bizarrely, surreally Cambodia is back for a short spell. As Marjorie Pay Hinckley once said "You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."

So, build my own breakfast it is. The eggs are just perfect. The freshly ground coffee is excellent and puts me in a good mood. Overall a nice early morning experience. I gather my provisions from the supermarket and arrange with Phany for me to cook chicken curry, for lunch, tomorrow.

As time passes here in Siem Reap, I have to seriously consider whether I need to be moving into paid accommodation or not. There is no sign of 'tourists' being let back into Malaysia, so I need to consider an extended visa and renting an apartment in Cambodia, as this situation could be for another few months. For me a kitchen is second only to Wi-Fi internet and air conditioning. Monday morning I will be looking at one possible place. I do worry about the extra expenditure though.

Meanwhile I have my Saturday ‘Project’ this evening.

It was a good session, but very quiet.

Once more I am tired. It is only 8.55pm, but I need a shower. The lack of air conditioning makes my shirt cling to me in a most uncomfortable way. I’ll not mention what is happening in my regions which rarely see the sun. I am lucky though, it could be much worse (I keep telling myself that). But I would really like to be somewhere which allows me to cook (in a reasonable kitchen), on a daily basis. This, this whatever it is, has me squeezed between vacationing and staying. I am not a tourist, traveller or home. I am betwixt and between, a pawn in a heavenly game.

Today’s spend is…..
Common Grounds…..$7.50
Thai Huot Market; Dasani Water; Myojo Soto Ayam x3; Globemilk; Milk Soft Bread; Bean Sprouts and Westgold Salted Butter……$11.70

Total spend $19.20